News

In mid-November the Auschwitz Museum was visited by Batsheva Dagan, an Israeli writer and former Auschwitz prisoner, as well as author of the poetry collection, Imagination: Blessed Be, Cursed Be. In this Oś, you will find an interview with Batsheva Dagan, a selection of her poems, and an article about her meeting with teachers and students.

In 2010, there were 1,380,000 visitors to the grounds of the former German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz. This is a record figure in the more than sixty years of the Memorial, which is the most visited site of its kind in the world and the most visited museum in Poland. The constantly rising attendance reflects the significance of this place as a symbol for the world.

November is the month during which we commemorate two sad anniversaries. November 22, 1940 the first execution by firing squad was held in Auschwitz. A year later, November 11—Polish Independence Day—the Germans held executions at the Death Wall in the courtyard of Block 11 using a silenced small caliber weapon. We are able to recount these events now through the testimony of witnesses as well as archival documents.

The Auschwitz Museum is the first institution of its type to implement a pilot online education program. The initiative by the International Center for Education about Auschwitz and the Holocaust has spurred great interest among Internet users. Although the course is currently available only in Polish, there have been declarations of interest from people outside Poland

Prime Minister David Cameron has stated that the United Kingdom will financially support the Perpetual Fund of the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation in maintaining the grounds and buildings at the site of the German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp Auschwitz. Asked in the House of Commons about support for the Fund, Cameron answered in the affirmative and went on to add that “Auschwitz-Birkenau is a very powerful reminder of the ultimate consequences of intolerance, and it is only right that it should be preserved to bear witness to the deaths of the millions of victims who perished there and to act as a stark reminder of man's inhumanity to man."

“Confrontation and Reflection” is the title of the winning poster in the Third Biennial of Socio-Political Poster in Oświęcim, which adorns the cover. Its author Bangqian Zheng is from China. The 74 best posters of the contest can be viewed at the International Youth Meeting Center until the end of the year. In this month’s Oś you will find a review of the exhibit and a report about the awards ceremony. DOWNLOAD PDF FILE...